sky

Sky, the British broadcasting group, has published its latest quarterly results, and amidst the numbers and other typical data lies one interesting tidbit of information: the company recently struck a deal with Sony, and will be brining its Sky Go service to the PlayStation 4.

HBO has some of the most popular shows on cable TV. Among the HBO hits are shows like Game of Thrones and Sopranos among others. HBO and Sky in the UK have announced that they have teamed up to work on new programs and bring existing content to Sky viewers.

Trademarks are tricky business, often involving legal battles over whether a common word -- such as "sky" -- that is well-known for a specific brand -- such as British Sky Broadcasting -- can be snapped up from usage among other brands, such as Microsoft's SkyDrive. Such became the source of an infringement claim against Microsoft by BSkyB, and all of it has been followed by an announcement today that Microsoft will be rebranding SkyDrive to OneDrive.

Microsoft is in negotiations with broadcaster Sky UK to offer a subsidized Xbox One, it's reported, potentially even positioning the console as a new set-top box for the satellite TV service. The deal, which may already have been finalized according to MCV's sources, would see the next-gen console offered at a significant discount, it's claimed, potentially with DVR style recording functionality in the pipeline.

Broadcaster BSkyB has returned its Android apps to the Google Play store today, after pulling them earlier this month following the hacking of its Twitter account and Play listings by the Syrian Electronic Army. The hack, which took place on May 26, saw the official Sky Twitter account advise subscribers to uninstall the apps - which include Sky Go for on-demand streaming, and Sky+ for remotely managing DVRs - as they had been compromised. However, it was later revealed that there had been no such issue, though BSkyB still pulled its vandalized listings from the store.

TV fans in the UK who are Sky customers get a new TV catch up service this week. Sky has announced that it has added the Channel 4 4oD catch up service to its offerings creating the UK's most complete catch-up TV service. 4oD is Channel 4's video-on-demand service and it is available as an upgrade at no cost for some Sky customers.

Livescribe and BSkyB have settled their differences in Europe, after the satellite telecoms company took issue with the name of the Sky WiFi smartpen launched last year. British Sky Broadcasting Group (BSkyB) had filed a trademark complaint about the wirelessly-enabled notetaking system - which we reviewed back in October - forcing Livescribe to pull it from shelves while the two companies argued. Now, the case has been settled, but only with Livescribe agreeing to rebrand the pen itself.

Sky has added offline playback to its mobile apps, with Sky Go Extra offering the ability to pre-download TV and movies to their phone, tablet, or notebook in return for a monthly fee. The new feature, adding to the existing Sky Go apps - which require a persistent data connection for streaming content - is priced at £5 ($8) per month and only available to Sky UK subscribers; that monthly fee also doubles the number of devices that can be registered to the Sky Go service.

Livescribe has been forced to pull its Sky WiFi-enabled smartpen from UK shelves after a legal threat from broadcaster BSkyB, which believes potential customers could be confused by the "Sky" name similarities. According to BSkyB, its "Sky" trademark is infringed by the digital notetaking system, The Guardian reports, and it has sued both Livescribe and UK retailer Dixons Retail accordingly.

Sky has updated its Sky+ app for iOS with on-demand listings, turning you iPad or iPhone into a remote control for managing film and boxset downloads direct to your Sky+HD box. The updated app now allows Sky customers to navigate through the Sky TV On Demand catalog, queuing up titles remotely while the set-top box itself is being used by others.